An Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip this week eliminated a senior commander in the Mujahideen Brigades terror group, who was involved in burying the bodies of slain hostages Gadi Haggai and Judih Weinstein, the Israel Defense Forces said Friday.
The IDF said Ali Saadi Wasfi al-Agha was killed in a strike on a hideout in central Gaza on Monday.
Al-Agha headed the terror group’s southern Gaza unit and was set to take over the organization after its leader, Asaad Abu Sharia, was killed in a strike earlier this month, according to the military.
“Al-Agha, along with other senior members of the terror group, led the abduction, murder, holding in captivity and burial of Israeli civilians” during the October 7, 2023, onslaught, the military continued.
He was specifically responsible for the burial of Haggai and Judih Weinstein, Israeli hostages whose bodies were recovered from Al-Agha’s home in Khan Younis this month, said the IDF.
Al-Agha was also involved in “directing terror activity under Iranian guidance” in the West Bank and Israel, and recruiting terror operatives, as well as carrying out attacks on troops in Gaza.
This past week, amid the conflict with Iran, the IDF said it struck some 300 “terror targets” in Gaza, including operatives, buildings used by terror groups, weapon depots, and missile and sniper posts.
Meanwhile, the Hamas-run civil defense agency claimed Israeli forces killed at least 43 people on Friday, including 26 who had gathered near an aid distribution center.
“Forty-three martyrs have fallen as a result of the ongoing Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip since dawn today, 26 of whom were waiting for humanitarian aid,” Mohammad Al-Mughayyir, director of medical supply at the organization, told AFP.
Gazan outlets in the territory reported that IDF gunfire also injured dozens more, in the latest in a string of deadly incidents involving aid seekers in the Palestinian territory.
The reports did not specify whether the incident occurred near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution center, the US- and Israel-backed aid distribution body, although there is one in the area.
The reports were not accompanied by any footage, and the IDF did not immediately comment on the reported incident.
Israel resumed aid deliveries to Gaza on May 19, after a two-month pause. It placed responsibility for distributing much of the aid it allows into the Strip into the hands of the GHF, which operates sites in areas guarded by Israeli troops.
There had previously been almost daily reports of shootings resulting in the deaths of dozens of Palestinians trying to reach GHF sites. Israel has disputed claims that its forces caused mass deaths.
On Thursday, 95 humanitarian aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announced. The trucks underwent an inspection by Israeli authorities before entering Gaza via the Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings.
The World Food Program says roughly 300 trucks a day are needed to serve Gaza’s population, which IDF officials acknowledged was on the brink of starvation before it resumed allowing aid in last month.
Since Israel resumed allowing in aid, 1,879 trucks have entered the Strip.
GHF has said each box it distributes has enough food inside to feed 5.5 people for 3.5 days.
Jacob Magid contributed to this report.